The new Disney+ series The Acolyte, inspired by the Star Wars universe, is massacred by viewer ratings. In addition to its rhythm and its intrinsic quality, two criticisms are leveled at it by Star Wars fans, who are not known for their great open-mindedness.
The reception of the various Star Wars series produced and broadcast by Disney+ has been variable. Andor and The Mandalorian were acclaimed by critics and the public, while Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka received a much more mixed reception. As for The Book of Boba Fett, it was the lowest rated show on the different platforms so far.
But that was before Star Wars: The Acolyte came along. The first two episodes were released on Disney+ on June 4, with the following six being made available weekly. And after viewing the first three episodes of the series, the public massacred the series on the rating services. On RottenTomatoesthe best known internationally, Star Wars: The Acolyte obtained a mediocre 15%, reflecting the deep disappointment of spectators.
Star Wars The Acolyte, yet another Disney+ series accused of wokism
On French sites, the scores are a little better, but still disastrous. The average audience rating for the series reached 1.9/5 on Allocinated and 4.1/10 on Critical sense. Each time, we see a very large number of ratings at 1, or even 0 when possible. This appears to be a review bombing campaign intended to send a message to Disney, rather than to objectively judge the quality of the series.
In one article, Forbes believes that these extremely low ratings “says a lot more about the viewers than the series itself”. The publication argues that fans want to punish the series for two main reasons: its woke nature and potential opposition to the canon of the Star Wars universe (we won’t say more on this subject to avoid spoilers).
The critics are in any case much less severe in their ratings than the public. Star Wars: The Acolyte is currently 84% off RottenTomatoes (72% for the most reputable critics) and 3.3/5 on Allociné.
Source: Forbes